Alone
by Melora Maxwell
Summary: Enter the mind of the Last Dalek. Dalek POV.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I blame the BBC, the incredibly funky redesign of the Daleks and Russell T. Davies's utter genius for the inspiration behind this fic.

* * *

Disclaimer: Sadly, nothing in this fic belongs to me – everything belongs to the BBC, Russell T. Davies and Terry Nation.

Warning: Extensive spoilers throughout for _Dalek_, some spoilers for the finale, and minor spoilers for the original series Dalek storylines.

* * *

**Alone**

**

* * *

**

Dark.

Cold.

Empty.

Alone.

I do not fear these trivial afflictions.

A lesser being would have long since succumbed to these pathetic humans and their equally pathetic means of extracting information.

The pain I feel as they drill into my headpiece with their crude torture instruments…I scream as any being does.

But these humans…they do not have my fear or respect.

I say nothing.

I refuse to submit.

I am a Dalek. A member of the most powerful race in the universe.

All of these pathetic humans will be exterminated in time.

* * *

Fifty solar years have passed since I fell through time and space to land on Earth. All I can recall of the end of my service aboard the Emperor's ship was an explosion, a flash of light, and fire.

I fell.

In agony.

Alone.

Alone on this insignificant planet, I did not fear for my life then.

And I do not fear now.

For three days after falling to Earth, I lay in my impact crater, screaming. The pain was beyond anything I was programmed to experience without significant damage to my life support systems.

I was found by the humans in that crater in the Ascension Islands and sold between various collectors of alien specimens across the planet. None of them possessed the intelligence to respect me.

And even if they could, I would never demean the Dalek race to speak to them, to tell them of the glory of my people, of the Emperor, of his genius.

They are cattle, they will be exterminated.

This was my thought throughout the years as I attempted to contact the Dalek fleet that was destroying the weakling, impotent race of Time Lords that had continued to thwart and belittle the Dalek race for centuries.

* * *

They did not reply.

I was not concerned.

Orders would come.

And until then, I would bide my time.

* * *

The humans measure this period as the year 2012.

I remain in a concrete bunker that the humans refer to as 'the Cage', buried half a mile below the surface of the Earth in the American state of Utah. Chains are wrapped crudely but effectively across the torso of my travel unit, obstructing the use of my arm and my weapon stalk. In turn, I am chained to four metal rods, each capable of conducting a thousand volts of electrical current.

The heavy steel door, so much weaker than the superior metal dalekanium, opens and the human I have identified as Simmons enters, dressed in orange clothing and black gloves, with a protective mask obscuring his face. He barely looks at me before lifting a drill and settling it against my headpiece.

I am aware of what he is doing.

The drill bit cuts into my headpiece, sending bolts of pain through my travel unit and my weakening body.

I scream.

The pain is almost unbearable.

But I will not yield.

The pain stops as the drill bit is removed.

He pauses, and speaks to the air, presumably to one of his numerous superiors.

'Not exactly talking, no.'

Another pause.

'It's screaming, is that any good?'

The drill bit is raised.

Pain.

I scream again.

How much time passes, I am not sure. But the pain is growing worse.

The drill bit is removed and placed on the work bench.

Simmons frowns at me. He is uncertain why I do not say or do something to stop the pain. He shakes his head and departs, passing the observation monitor as he leaves.

My 'owner' is a business tycoon and owner of the human 'internet', Henry Van Statten. A weak-minded human with a desire to own all forms of alien technology and exploit their uses for the benefit of other humans.

I know he watches as I undergo daily torture. He visits me regularly, ordering me to speak.

He calls me a 'Metaltron', his greatest piece, one that he is determined to understand.

Humans can never understand the superiority of the Daleks.

That is my comfort and strength throughout the pain.

But what the human does not know that I would be unable to exterminate him even if I was free.

* * *

I am dying.

* * *

All Daleks have to have their DNA regenerated once during every 24 hour period in order to repair damage and upload new information. The DNA regeneration system inside my travel unit has been damaged beyond repair by both my fall to Earth, and the humans' torture.

If we cannot regenerate, the organic components become weakened, susceptible to diseases and suggestion.

That has happened to other, weaker Daleks in the past.

But with the help of our great leader the Emperor, the travel units have been redesigned to absorb the DNA of other organic life forms from similar or related races, extrapolating their biomass and the perfect cells.

The cells worthy of nurture and assimilation.

The Dalek cells.

The humans are not entirely senseless. One human been killed from contact with the outer surface of my travel unit.

They choose instead not to touch me at all.

And I continue to die.

I have adjusted my signalling equipment as such.

I need both orders and assistance.

But I am determined that I will not succumb to death.

I am strong.

I am a Dalek.

My people will come.

I will have my revenge on these puny humans.

* * *

The door opens again. Voices echo through the Cage, just outside the heavy door.

'Welcome back, sir. I've had to take the power down, the Metaltron is resting.'

Simmons's voice.

'Metaltron?'

A voice I do not recognise.

'Thought of it myself. Good, isn't it? Although I'd much prefer to find out its real name.'

Henry Van Statten. My gaoler.

'Here, you'd better put these on. The last guy that touched it…burst into flames.'

Simmons again.

'I won't touch it then.'

The stranger.

'Go ahead, Doctor. Impress me.'

Van Statten. His voice annoys me.

…Doctor?

Another alien expert colleague of Van Statten's acquaintance, most likely.

But what if…?

What if it is…_him_?

* * *

I struggle now to focus as a figure comes forward into the Cage. My sight is not as strong as it was when I served in the Dalek fleet, the crude torture by the humans only assisting the decay even further.

My eye-stalk remains focussed on the door as it swings shut.

The figure moves slowly towards a trolley filled with human torture implements, shining in the dim light. I know all of them by sight, name and feel. All of them have been used on my travel unit more than once.

I am suddenly confused.

This one is different.

This one does not fear me.

A male voice, filled with confidence and concern, speaks.

'Look, I'm sorry about this. Mr. Van Statten might think he's clever, but never mind him. I've come to help. I'm the Doctor.'

The Doctor…

Rage fills me; thrilling, wonderful rage.

'**Doc...tor?**'

The figure starts. 'Impossible!'

'**_THE Doctor?!_**'

Light floods the Cage, illuminating the features of the figure before me.

I am not mistaken.

It is him!

He has changed his appearance again since my race last encountered him, but I recognise him. The Daleks have always kept meticulous records of the Time Lords, none more so than _him_.

The _Ka-Faraq Gatri_! (1)

The _Doctor_!!

The rage floods through me, strengthening me as the Doctor's eyes widen in fear and he sprints towards the door of the Cage, pounding senselessly on the metal.

'**_EX-TER-MI-NATE!! EX-TER-MI-NATE!! EX-TER-MI-NATE!!_**'

'Let me out, you have to let me out!'

'**You are an enemy of the Daleks; you must be destroyed!**'

The rage reaches its height as I aim my weapon stalk at the Doctor, revelling in the thought of what his death will be like…

* * *

Nothing.

This cannot be!

I am a Dalek soldier! The Doctor is the greatest enemy of the Daleks! He must be _exterminated_!

A short laugh of disbelief emerges from his throat.

'It's not working…'

I stare at my weapon stalk in frustration. It must work! It must!

The Doctor stares at me, his terror changing slowly to disbelief. He laughs cruelly, most unlike his most recently recorded incarnations – a short, rotund being with clothing covered in question marks, who had watched with distaste as the Master stood trial on Skaro, and hid his face in shame as his brother Time Lord was exterminated; and then a tall, graceful being dressed in old Earth clothing with an insatiable curiosity about every aspect of existence, who stood with his murderous kind as the Time War raged throughout the universe.

'Fantastic!'

The fear approaches, subduing my rage and frustration. He will not triumph over me…

He remains out of weapons range, his posture defensive.

'Oh, fantastic! Powerless! Look at you, the great space dustbin! _How does it feel_?!'

The fear overwhelms me. I try to reverse my travel unit. I must flee before he can harm me…

'**Keep back!**'

The Doctor charges at me and stares straight into my eye-stalk. 'What for?! What are you gonna do to me?!'

He prowls around me, his eyes blazing with rage, hate pouring out of him. I hold his stare, matching it with my own. The pain fades as I follow his movements, rage fuelling my body and travel unit.

'If you can't kill, what are you good for, _Dalek_?! What's the point of you?! You're nothing!'

He stops his predatory movements as my eye-stalk faces forward.

'What the hell are you here for?'

I finally choose to respond.

'**I am waiting for orders.**'

'What does that mean?'

Stupid as well as cruel.

'**I am a soldier. I was bred to receive orders.**'

'Well you're never gonna get any. Not ever.'

Ridiculous. I _will_ receive orders, I _must_ receive orders…

'**I demand orders!**'

His rage breaks. 'They're never gonna come. Your race is dead. You all burnt, all of you. Ten million ships on fire. The entire Dalek race, wiped out in one second.'

No. This cannot be.

He is false.

He lies!

'**You lie!**'

He glares into my eye-stalk with a rage to match my own. 'I watched it happen, I _MADE_ it happen!'

Too much. This is all too much…

'**You destroyed us?!**'

He stops at that. He turns and walks a short distance away in silence.

Confirmation.

'I had no choice.'

Curiosity takes the place of rage.

'**And what of the Time Lords?**'

A pause.

'Dead. They burnt with you. The end of the last great Time War. Everyone lost.'

Bitter anger takes hold.

'**And the coward survived.**'

The Doctor straightens his posture in anger.

'Oh, and I caught your little signal. "Help me?" Poor little thing?'

He pauses.

'But there's no-one else coming because there's no-one else left.'

* * *

No.

The Daleks…

My people…

My race…

Gone.

Extinct.

Exterminated.

Grief. Something I did not expect to ever feel.

'**I am alone in the universe.**'

The Doctor does not move. 'Yep.'

I cannot resist the impulse. '**So are you. We are the same.**'

At that he turns, launching himself at me once again.

'We're not the same! I'm not…'

He stops.

A killer. That is what he was about to say.

You are not a killer, Doctor?

The Daleks, the Gelth, the Nestene Consciousness…we would beg to differ.

'No, wait. Maybe you're right. Maybe we are.'

This is not what I had expected.

I watch as he moves towards the control panel.

'You're right. Yeah, OK. You've got a point. 'Cause I know what to do.'

Fear.

'I know what should happen. I know what you deserve.'

Rage.

He smiles cruelly.

'Exterminate!'

He pulls the lever.

Four thousand volts of electricity tear through my travel unit.

* * *

I scream as he watches in triumph.

'**Have pity!**'

'Why should I?! You never did!'

The pain burns.

He watches.

'**Help me!**'

The door of the Cage opens. Van Statten, Simmons and a number of idiot guards pour in, restraining the Doctor and shutting off the electricity.

Van Statten stands before me, his face twisted in anger.

'I saved your life. Now talk to me. Goddammit, talk to me!'

The Doctor is dragged out of the Cage by the guards, screaming in panic and anger.

'You've got to destroy it!'

Van Statten ignores him and stares at me. 'The last in the universe. And now I know your name. Dalek.'

His voice drops. 'Speak to me, Dalek!'

I stay silent. No need to speak to this worthless human.

'I am Henry Van Statten. Now recognise me!'

Blackness begins to creep into the edges of my vision…

He speaks the last words I hear as I fall into peaceful unconsciousness.

'Make it talk again, Simmons.'

A pause.

'Whatever it takes…'

* * *

TBC

(1) In the comic strips and novels, this name for the Doctor translates from the Dalek language as 'Bringer of Darkness', or 'Destroyer of Worlds'.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Very cheered by the support for the warped thoughts of a xenophobic maniacal pepper-pot with a major attitude problem.

* * *

**The Invader Androgynous:** Very cheered that you like!

**Uh.yeah:** Ever since I saw the re-designed Daleks and got the info on the Time War, the Last Dalek has been zooming round my head, squawking to say something. Just pleased that people think it's realistic!

**Morph:** Intense? Cool!

**Glinda:** What can I say? I love the bad guys!

**Evil-Demandred:** Someone else who cried during 'Dalek'! The little Dalek trying to reach towards the sun…awwww!

**Big fan:** Have continued!

**VMorticia:** Am rabid Doctor Who fan, used to sit up every Wednesday with my mum and watch Sylvester McCoy save the universe. I order you to watch the original series, and then the true nastiness of the Daleks really makes sense.

* * *

Disclaimer: See part one.

Warnings: See part one for spoilers, plus random malicious violence and various deaths. Cheerful stuff.

* * *

**Alone: Part Two **

**

* * *

**

The Doctor.

The President Elect of the High Council of Time Lords.

Keeper of the Legacy of Rassilon.

Defender of the Laws of Time.

Protector of Gallifrey. (1)

The _Ka-Faraq Gatri_…

Of all the Time Lords who could have conceivably survived the last great Time War, it could only have been the Doctor.

Despite all of the mighty efforts of the Dalek race, he has eluded us for over a millennium in every one of his regenerations. His insistent meddling in the affairs of the Daleks has caused our history to be rewritten more than once, with only our superior record-keeping informing us of his interference.

The deliberate delay in our glorious evolution for a thousand years; the trial and betrayal of our leader and saviour Davros; and the destruction of our ancestral home Skaro…

He has caused all of this.

He meddles with a race that does not take kindly to interference.

* * *

I awake once again, my mind still dulled with pain from the torture inflicted on me by the Doctor.

Simmons glares at me with a sadistic gleam in his eyes. He enjoys making me suffer.

He has always prided himself in his methods of torture.

But now…

The drill-bit enters my head-piece with a new intent. Van Statten ordered him to make me speak again.

Whatever it takes.

But I have a new strength.

I have my incentive.

The Doctor.

My order – one of the primary orders of the Dalek race – is to exterminate the Doctor on sight.

He has eluded me once.

He will not do so again.

* * *

A sudden commotion. Voices outside the Cage door. The guards are surprised, curious about something…

A male voice speaks; higher-pitched than the voices of the Doctor or Van Statten.

'Level Three access. Special clearance from Mr. Van Statten.'

Through the increasing pain, my own curiosity is roused. I do not recognise this voice.

A young human male, dark-haired and wide-eyed, enters the Cage, quickly followed by a female of approximately the same age. She moves forward slightly, eliciting the notice of the male.

'Don't get too close.'

A perceptive human. A rarity.

Or perhaps just cautious.

Logical.

The female attracts my attention more than the intruding male. I can make out her features even with my fading eyesight.

She would be attractive by the standards of humans. Blonde hair, with dark-rimmed brown eyes and a strong face. She approaches me with no hint of fear or hate.

Her concern, her curiosity, her empathy…they are all evident in her eyes as she bends towards me and stares into my eye-stalk.

'Hello.'

There is still no fear.

Intriguing.

'Are you in pain? My name's Rose Tyler.'

I am too tired to speak.

'I've got a friend, he can help, he's called the Doctor. What's your name?'

…The Doctor.

She _would_ know the Doctor…

Wait…

She knows the _Doctor_…

I must think laterally. I must not let excitement or exhaustion blind my logic.

It is conceivable that she is a resident of this time period. Certainly her mannerisms and speech are similar to those I have seen in other humans in this time.

But if she is a companion of the Doctor, it is logical to surmise that she is a human removed from her birth period in time, as most of the Doctor's companions have been.

If she is a time traveller, then…

After his rise to the Imperial seat, the Emperor had initiated radical redesigns of the travel units, which took place during the Time War in the period before my fall through time and space. The new units have the ability to extrapolate the biomass of a time traveller in order to regenerate, should the primary DNA regeneration system become damaged or destroyed.

My chance for freedom now stands before me.

'**...Yes.**'

The human, Rose, keeps staring at me as I raise my eye-stalk to examine her properly. Her male escort stays back, most predictably out of fear.

She does not retreat.

'What?'

'**…I am…in pain.**'

She watches, her concern growing more evident in her eyes.

'**…They…torture me, but still…they fear me.**'

A pause.

'**…Do you…fear me?**'

She shakes her head. 'No.'

I scan her face to be certain.

She does not lie.

I am surprised at her honesty. No human I have ever encountered has been this…clear.

The pain is growing worse now. My mind is becoming darker, confused…more open.

'**…I am…dying.**'

She shakes her head again, worry and determination spreading across her features.

'No, we can help.'

Her concern for me…it is strangely comforting.

'**…I…welcome death.**'

I stare into her eyes once more.

'**But…I am glad…that…before I die…I have met a …human…who was not afraid.**'

She shakes her head yet again. 'Isn't there anything I can do?'

An offer of help.

Just as the Doctor had offered to help me.

But while his offer disappeared with the first beams of light within the Cage, hers is an honest offer.

She truly wants to help me.

Her compassion, while it is an unnecessary emotion in the Daleks, is commendable.

The Daleks…

My brethren…

I think of them once again.

How they had met their extermination at the hands of the Doctor.

Does she know that my race, and the race of Time Lords, are both destroyed?

Has the Doctor not gloated to her of how he wiped out the magnificent Dalek race in the Time War, now the holocaust of both my people and his own?

'**…My race is dead. I shall die…alone.**'

And that is what I intend to do.

I will not harm this one. She is unlike the others.

I prepare to succumb to the darkness as she moves out of my vision…

* * *

The male starts towards me, his voice suddenly frightened. 'Rose, no!'

Contact.

A hand on the surface of my headpiece.

Contact!

Contact with a time traveller!

__

**SYSTEM RESTORE!**

Long dead systems flash and spark.

My regeneration system powers up, heating the outer surface of my travel unit, burning her hand…

She gasps in pain and withdraws.

Too late for her.

Power suddenly surges through me.

'**Genetic material extrapolated! Initiate cellular reconstruction!**'

My regeneration system is resurrected.

Absorbing her biomass, absorbing her DNA…

* * *

I reverse my travel unit. The chains restraining me break apart as though they were made of clay.

Simmons enters with his ever-present drill, an expression of anger marring his face. 'What the hell have you done?!'

I turn with ease as he stops before me, revelling in the return of my powers, and raise my manipulator stalk to him.

He smirks at me, smugness radiating from his every pore.

'Whatcha gonna do? _Sucker_ me to death…?'

My anger breaks. I raise my manipulator stalk to his face with a speed he clearly did not anticipate. I create a vacuum within the manipulator and watch with satisfaction as his features contort…

His struggles amuse me as his skull audibly cracks and contracts into the vacuum.

An agonising death.

He deserved far worse for what he did to me.

I notice, as Simmons slumps to the floor, the younger male sprinting out of the Cage, Rose barely a step behind him, crying out in fear.

'It's killing him! Do something!'

I do not know why I suddenly feel anger towards her.

__

…she said she did not fear you, but now she does. She lied to you…

The door of the Cage slams behind them, leaving me trapped inside.

Or so the humans think.

* * *

A lock with a billion combinations.

I am not concerned.

After the hundred years war of attrition against the Thals, Davros excelled himself in his manipulation of the mutated remains of the Kaled race. The acceleration of the rate of mutation resulted in the further physical deformation of our race, but it also resulted in the development of significantly advanced higher brain functions, capable of calculating a thousand billion numerical combinations in one second.

I raise my manipulator stalk to the combination lock of the Cage.

Barely ten seconds pass before the heavy steel door swings open.

I am greeted with the sight of numerous security guards, their primitive human hand-guns aimed at my travel unit. The sound of weapons-fire, the subsequent sound of the bullets rebounding harmlessly off of my battered travel unit - it brings me more pleasure than I had felt at the death of Simmons.

A monitor sits on a desk to my left, displaying the welcome image of the Doctor, Van Statten and his female assistant staring at the scene in horror.

Excellent.

Now they begin to comprehend what I am.

The lead guard turns to one of his numerous subordinates. 'DeMaggio, take the civilians and get them out alive. That is your job. Do you understand?'

DeMaggio ceases her futile struggle with her weapon immediately and nods at the two younger humans. 'You, with me.'

Rose and her male companion sprint out of the anteroom behind their protector. She glances at me one final time before she leaves.

__

…she fears what you have been reborn as. She cannot or does not want to comprehend what you are…

Why do I need her to understand what I am? Why would I need reassurance from a human?

I dismiss the thought.

Reassurance is weak.

Reassurance is human.

I am a Dalek.

I move towards the monitor, a feeling akin to contentment radiating through me as I lunge my manipulator stalk through the plasma screen, shattering the image of the Doctor and the two gawping humans. I connect with the raw power supply; the 'modem' simultaneously connecting my travel unit to the internet.

Power and information surge through me…

In the shattered remains of the monitor, I see the golden colour of the travel unit being restored, the colour of the new Imperial Daleks, the colour of my loyalty to Davros and the Emperor. (2)

As the last guard retreats in terror, electricity crackles around my travel unit as I scream in ecstasy.

I am reborn.

I am renewed.

I turn and watch as the humans continue to fire at my travel unit.

They cannot harm what I have become.

They cannot harm thousands of years of genetic mutation and evolution.

I am the last of the Daleks.

But now I will succeed where my brethren have failed.

I will exterminate the Doctor, and then the entire human race he so desperately champions. And then I shall begin the Dalek race anew, with the memories and strength of my people as my guide.

The cry builds in my vocal unit.

'**The Daleks survive in me!**'

Both a threat, and a prophecy.

I turn and raise my weapon-stalk in a glorious rage. I fire at the remains of the computer, a number of pressurized air containers and at a light-fitting on the ceiling.

All of the cameras in the Cage are now destroyed.

Humans can feel fear far better than the Daleks.

I hope they feel it now.

The chase is on.

* * *

My travel unit glides along the floor with ease. I marvel silently at the power that Rose Tyler and the humans unwittingly gave to me as I gain speed on the last guard.

As the fleeing human turns into a corridor filled with armed guards, I give him enough time to scream out an incomprehensible order, and then exterminate him, the blast displacing his internal organs with ease.

The guards commence their puny attack, bullets dissolving into null-space as they hit my newly regenerated shield.

The thrill of combat flows through me as I aim my weapon-stalk and fire. Blasts echo down the concrete passageways, intermingled with human death screams. My torso revolves and fires on those too cowardly to face me head-on.

Barely thirty seconds of combat, and the last human stops firing. Black-clad bodies litter the passageway, expressions of agony still twisting some of their faces even in death.

Pathetic.

I consult the downloaded blueprints of the base, and follow the path that the three humans took, leading through a veritable maze of corridors and stairwells and eventually emerging in the heat of the Utah desert 53 floors above.

I will follow the humans, and exterminate all those who get in my way.

First this base, and then Earth.

* * *

Footsteps.

I pick up more speed as I follow the sound.

Rose's voice…

'Stairs…that's more like it! It hasn't got legs, it's stuck!'

DeMaggio's voice…

'It's coming! Get up!'

More footsteps mingled with panting echo through the stairwell as I emerge onto the landing.

Stairs.

I stare at them, follow their path as the human male speaks, his voice sneering at me from his 'safe' height on the third landing.

'Great big alien death machine, defeated by a flight of stairs.'

Rose chooses to stay silent, mostly conceivably out of fear.

DeMaggio steps forward and raises her weapon.

'Now listen to me. I demand that you return to your Cage. If you want to negotiate then I can guarantee that Mr. Van Statten will be willing to talk.'

Negotiate.

How pathetically human.

'I accept that we imprisoned you, and maybe that was wrong, but people have died, and that stops right now. The killing stops. Have you got that?'

Her bravery is admirable.

'I demand that you surrender, is that clear?'

But deeply misplaced.

A Dalek does not surrender.

The trans-solar discs on the base of my travel unit activate with a thought.

'**Elevate.**'

I feel immense satisfaction at their expressions as I hover effortlessly over the steps that would otherwise have proved an embarrassing obstacle.

'My God.' Rose stares at me with increasing horror.

DeMaggio keeps her weapon raised. 'Adam, get her out of here.'

Rose dashes down the steps to the guard. 'Come with us. You can't stop it.'

She does not move. 'Someone's gotta try. Now get out!'

She pushes Adam and Rose up the stairs. 'Don't look back, just run.'

I keep watching DeMaggio as she makes her gloriously futile last stand, the bullets from her weapon ricocheting harmlessly off the surface of my travel unit.

One shot, and she falls with a scream.

* * *

The Weapons Testing Area.

The largest room in the Vault, and presumably where the rest of the staff in Van Statten's employment will make their next attempt to defeat me.

Rose and Adam are a fair distance ahead of me, but not so far that I do not see them enter the area, and register the familiar sounds of weapons preparation.

A motley collection of humans greets me as I enter the room, technicians, scientists, lawyers and guards all armed and aiming their weapons at me.

Behind them, in the secondary corridor, Rose and Adam stand, watching in fear.

The lens in my eyestalk contracts as it zooms in on Rose's face.

Through the protective mesh underneath my headpiece, my own organic eye narrows, almost squinting as I stare at her.

She is afraid, terrified of what I can do, what I am…but sad.

Sad at my actions.

Her thoughts.

I can feel her thoughts.

But why?

Why is she so bothered about what I am doing?

Why do I know what she is feeling?

I dismiss the thought as I move forward, into the firing range of the humans' weapons.

The lead guard aims his gun at me. 'On my mark…'

I gaze upwards towards the ceiling.

Emergency fire extinguishers.

An idea forms…

'Open fire!'

Weapons fire explodes around me, the sound almost deafening.

I remote-activate the security cameras in the back of the testing area.

The Doctor, Van Statten and Goddard will no doubt be watching and waiting to see what I am doing.

Let them watch.

Let them see what their arrogance has caused.

I hope they suffer.

* * *

I elevate my travel unit once again, floating above the now terrified humans, revelling in their expressions of disbelief.

A single blast towards the back of the room and the small yellow plastic unit bearing the legend 'Fire Alarm' explodes with a flash of light.

Water gushes from the overhead fire extinguishers, drenching the humans and all of the surfaces in the room.

Excellent.

A small adjustment, and I aim my weapon-stalk at the water-covered floor.

Electricity surges through the bodies of the humans as they continue desperately to fire at me.

A most agonising death.

We Daleks are skilled in the discipline of pain.

The lead guard screams at the remainder of his troops to fall back, but another blast cuts him off. Electricity surges through the rest of the humans, even more deadly than before.

I scan the room.

No survivors.

I lower my travel unit to the ground and activate the cameras once more, connecting me to Van Statten's plush office.

'**I shall speak only to the Doctor.**'

The Time Lord's sharp features are marked with horror as he stares at me.

'You're gonna get rusty.'

Humour.

Irrelevant.

I feel a surge of gloating pride as I take in his expression.

'**I fed off the DNA of Rose Tyler. Extrapolating the biomass of a time traveller regenerated me.**'

His expression subtly shifts of one of anger.

'What's your next trick?'

Uncertainty builds.

'**I have been searching for the Daleks.**'

He moves around a desk towards the camera. 'Yeah, I saw – downloading the internet. What did you find?'

I will not submit to uncertainty.

'**I scanned your satellites and radio telescopes.**'

'And?'

I am ashamed to admit it to my greatest enemy.

'**Nothing.**'

Panic rises. I am unable to stop it…

'**Where shall I get my orders now?!**'

The Doctor's expression hardens.

'You're just a soldier without commands.'

I will not be subjected to his taunts.

'**Then I shall follow the Primary Order – the Dalek instinct to destroy, to conquer!**'

He grows angry once more. 'What for?! What's the point?!'

The point?

The point, Doctor?

The point…

I am unable to answer.

'Don't you see it's all gone?! Everything you were, everything you stood for.'

Uncertainty.

'**Then what should I do?**'

An unpleasant leer crosses the Doctor's bony face.

'Alright then. You want orders? Follow this one.'

He pauses for a second.

'Kill yourself.'

Anger. What kind of order is this?!

'**The Daleks must survive!**'

His expression tightens and darkens as he moves towards the camera. 'The Daleks have failed. Why don't you finish the job, and make the Daleks extinct, rid the universe of your filth?!'

Saliva flies from his mouth.

'_Why don't you just DIE?!_'

Silence.

His hate is invigorating. Racial hate, the hate of a superior race…

I cannot resist…

'**You would make a good Dalek.**'

And I mean it.

I hover above the drenched floor and soar out of the Weapons Testing Area.

* * *

The humans' secondary attack has now failed.

Perhaps they will now use their last safety measure and seal the Vault. The blueprints indicated that the complex was originally designed to be a fallout shelter in the event of nuclear war.

The electricity I absorbed from the mainframe has drained the electrical power of the Vault, the state of Utah, and the entire West Coast of America; the entire base is running on emergency power. If they activate the emergency bulkheads, I will be most effectively trapped underground.

I will not let that happen.

I give chase once more, hovering up dozens of stairwells, listening to the sound of Rose Tyler's voice as she speaks to someone, presumably the Doctor.

They are slowing down. Humans do not have constantly recharging power sources, unlike the Daleks.

My speed remains constant as the two humans leave the stairwell at Level 46 and sprint down a corridor towards the bulkheads.

The emergency sirens wail and through down the corridors as the bulkhead door rolls down from the ceiling.

The sound of footsteps increases.

I increase my speed.

A heavy metallic clang echoes on the concrete.

The Vault is sealed.

* * *

I hear a voice a short distance ahead of me.

'Sorry, I was a bit slow.'

Rose.

She did not escape the closure of the bulkheads.

I see her standing at the bulkhead door, her face flushed, tears building in her eyes as she clutches onto a small mobile communication unit.

She turns away from me and speaks into the device.

'See you then, Doctor.'

A pause.

'It wasn't your fault. Remember that, OK? It wasn't your fault.'

So…the Doctor was the one who closed the bulkheads.

His actions have sentenced this young woman to an agonising death.

'And do you know what? I-I wouldn't have missed it for the world.'

She turns to face me as I approach her.

Brave enough to look on her own killer.

Commendable.

I raise my weapon-stalk and fire.

'**_EX-TER-MI-NATE_!**'

* * *

TBC

(1) The various official titles of the Doctor all come from _Remembrance of the Daleks_, 1988 – the first time the Daleks properly climbed up a flight of stairs and nearly killed the Seventh Doctor. Great serial.

(2) Since Davros is missing/presumed dead after the events of _Remembrance_, I'm going with the theory that the highest ranking Imperial Dalek left or cloned after Skaro's destruction became the Emperor, and decided to go for an update on the original gold and white colour scheme to reflect the Daleks' new loyalty.

Feel free to nitpick this theory to pieces.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: The final part folks! It's been a ball writing this (mostly because I can watch Doctor Who and pretend it's for research!), and depending on what the new series brings, I may emerge yet again for some more one-shots.

* * *

**Glinda**: Sorry I didn't send the last chapter to you! It's a Dalek, yet not a Dalek – still wondering if the Last Dalek was one of the 'half-human' Daleks a la the series finale…

**RavenMerc**: What can I say, I love sci-fi villains! Actually, that's a bloody good nitpick, but something tells me that Davros might still be out there somewhere, biding his time. Hope he is, imagine _that_ return!

**Laseri**: The Last Dalek is a little sod to write, but when it gets going…well. J

**Erulasse**: Don't worry, if there's one thing I do not do, it's plagiarise. Very glad you like it so much though!

**Morph**: I maintain it's what my beta-reader calls my disturbing kindredness with sci-fi bad guys that gets me through this!

**Big Fan**: Well, this whole fic is the Dalek's POV of _Dalek_. Kinda hard _not_ to do the meeting with Rose!

* * *

Disclaimer: I own the funkiest ever Dalek poster on my wall and two little remote-controlled Daleks and that's it. Doctor Who and the Daleks are the property of Terry Nation, Russell T. Davies and the BBC. Huh. 

Warning: See part one for spoilers, plus angst doses, eventual character death and reading into things far too much.

* * *

**Alone: Part 3**

* * *

I have exterminated her.

I have exterminated Rose Tyler.

But she does not cry out as her organs rearrange themselves within her body.

She does not fall.

Why does she not fall?

…_why are you doing this? I'm frightened. Please, please, I don't want to die. Please Doctor, help me, make it all right again…_

What was that?

Who spoke?

I heard no voice, no echo…

And what do I feel?

I am afraid.

Why am I frightened?

How can I be frightened?

I am a Dalek! A Dalek does not fear!

…_I'm not dying. Why'm I not dying? Why's it not killed me?..._

Her…

Her thoughts.

I can hear her thoughts.

She is not dead.

Why is she not dead?

I watch as she turns slowly towards me, staring into my eyestalk.

'Go on then. Kill me.'

I prepare to fire once again…and I halt.

Why do I halt?

She straightens up, her confidence returning. 'Why're you doing this?!'

I panic. I do not know why.

'**I am armed. I will kill. It is my purpose.**'

She stands before me; her fear joined by…anger?

'They're all dead because of you!'

This I will not tolerate. She spoke to me. She gave me her DNA. She released me!

'**They are dead because of us!**'

She pauses at this.

'And now what? What are you waiting for?'

Panic rises again. I cannot stop it…

'**I feel your fear.**'

She almost sneers at me. 'What d'you expect?!'

The panic takes over.

'**Daleks do not fear! Must not fear!**'

I raise my weapon-stalk and attempt to fire at her.

But the blast misses her, embeds itself into the wall behind her. Another shot, and another blast in the wall.

Anger swells along with the rush of fear I can sense in the being before me.

'**You gave me life. What else have you given me?!**'

The realisation hits me like a blast from one of the Time Lords' Bowships. The human's DNA…it has merged with my own.

Therefore, I am…part-human.

No.

No!

No! I am a Dalek! I am a Dalek! I cannot be anything other than pure Dalek!

A wail builds in my vocal unit.

'**I am contaminated!**'

Ignoring the confusion I feel from her, I aim my weapon-stalk at Rose.

'**You will stand beside me.**'

She does not argue. Sensibility I had not expected in a human.

Turning to face the corridor, I activate the security camera and speakers embedded in the ceiling.

'**Open the bulkhead or Rose Tyler dies.**'

A gasp echoes through the speakers and over the concrete floor.

'You're alive!'

The Doctor.

Excellent.

Rose turns slightly away from the camera in what I suddenly recognise as embarrassment.

Interesting.

'Can't get rid of me!'

'I thought you were dead.'

Enough of this mawkish sentiment. I aim my weapon-stalk at Rose once again.

'**Open the bulkhead!**'

Rose's voice follows mine in the space of a second. 'Don't do it!'

But…there! There it is! Her emotional core…

…_please don't do it, Doctor. You have to live, I want you to live…this was all my fault, I gave the Dalek emotions…I'll give up every emotion to keep you safe…_

All followed by feelings so strong that she…and I…cannot help but give voice to them.

'**What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?**'

* * *

I will never know who truly spoke those words.

* * *

There is silence from the speakers for a few seconds.

Finally, I hear the Doctor speak.

'I killed her once. I can't do it again.'

Your emotions will be your downfall, Doctor.

* * *

The bulkhead door rolls smoothly into the ceiling as Rose and I move forward, my weapon-stalk pointed at her back.

From here, it is a simple matter of using the lift to travel to Level 1, and from there…

I am uncertain.

Surely I must conquer Earth, as I was programmed to do. The Daleks must reign supreme over all life forms.

But now… I am no longer a Dalek.

Unthinkable!

I am still a Dalek, in thought, mind and deed.

But if I am a Dalek, why do I not simply kill Rose Tyler? I have killed others; I have watched them scream for mercy, trying to protect their loved ones and their offspring. I witnessed the destruction of Gallifrey, I watched as the President Romanadvoratrelundar's ship was obliterated…

I could kill her with one blast.

The lift doors spring open. The two of us…no! The _human_ and I move silently into the lift. I watch her as she presses the control panel for Level 1, then falls back to stand beside me.

My weapon-stalk moves erratically as the few remaining appendages inside my travel unit tremble and twitch…

The 'shakes', nervous shock or degenerative neural disease, common in humanoids…but how do I know this?

Rose turns slightly towards me as the lift passes Level 19. 'I'm begging you, don't kill them. You didn't kill me.'

'**But why not?**' My head-piece swivels around to face her.

Maybe she knows…

'**Why are you alive?**'

Why am I asking her?

'**My function is to kill. What am I? _What am I?!_**'

Rose says nothing, but her fear decreases ever so slightly.

But what am I? If I cannot kill, if I cannot be a true Dalek, then what am I?

* * *

Level 1.

The doors pull apart to reveal the horrified face of Henry Van Statten.

My gaoler. My keeper. My torturer.

A human expression suddenly appears in my mind, rather appropriate in describing him. It takes all of my willpower not to hiss it at him.

..._bastard..._

Rose speaks from behind me, concern evident in her mind and voice.

'Don't move! Don't do anything. It's beginning to question itself.'

My travel unit glides forward, my eyestalk and weapon-stalk fixed on his smug features and portly body.

'**Van Statten… you tortured me. Why?**'

I am most interested to hear how he chooses to defend himself. Even the Daleks, skilled in death as we are, even we do not practice torture on other species. Van Statten and his subordinates considered themselves superior to me because I was different. I could not fight back. They could torture me.

So how, I wonder, does this make them 'better' than me?

Van Statten stutters as I approach him, backing him against the far wall of his office.

'I wanted to help you, I just, I dunno, I was trying to help, I thought if we could get through to you, if we could mend you…'

I notice a rug, a multi-hued animal fur under his feet. Barbaric. To kill an animal and walk on its preserved skin…

I feel a great sense of satisfaction that very soon, this so-called superior being will no longer walk upon this planet.

He starts to whimper as the distance between us grows shorter.

'I wanted you better, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I swear, _I just wanted you to talk!_'

Pathetic.

'**Then hear me talk now. EX-TER-MI-NATE!! EX-TER-MI-NATE!! _EX-TER-MI-NATE!!_**'

I am merely one blast away from ridding the Earth of this paltry being as I aim my weapon-stalk at his face...

* * *

A hand on my torso.

'Don't do it, don't kill him!'

Rose.

I do not understand.

This weakling would have seen her die along with the rest of his subordinates if it would have given him one more second of protection.

And yet she wants him to stay alive?

I turn to look at her in confusion. Is she sane?

The expression in her eyes does not give any hint of insanity.

She takes a breath. 'You don't have to do this any more. There must be something else, not just killing.'

Her eyes plead with mine. 'What else is there? What d'you want?'

I pause.

What do I want?

I stare at her for a second, and then move my gaze back to the quivering Van Statten. His assistant watches over the three of us, frightened but strong.

The females of this planet are impressive in their bravery.

I turn back to Rose as I make my decision.

'**I want… freedom.**'

* * *

Rose walks slowly beside me as we travel to the uppermost floor of the bunker. Her fear has vanished now; in its place, curiosity…and a feeling I do not recognise.

Not unpleasant, just unrecognisable.

The Doctor is most fortunate to travel with this human. If she can display these emotions to a being that manipulated her and made numerous attempts to kill her, then the emotions she keeps only for him…

They must truly be astounding.

Another thought reaches me…

…_what does it mean by freedom? Freedom from Mr. Van Statten, yeah, I don't blame it for that, but does it mean some other freedom?..._

Even I am not sure, Rose Tyler.

I want; no…I _require_ my freedom from Van Statten, yes.

Freedom from the humans, again, yes.

Freedom from my life of torture…

Or is it freedom from what has been done to me?

I halt and aim my weapon-stalk at the ceiling. One blast, and rubble covers the concrete floor as the light of Sol pours in through the gap.

Rose flinches at the noise of the blast and moves closer to me.

'You're out. You made it.'

Her voice reflects her relief.

I stare up into the rays of light. I recall; there was no natural light on Skaro, only a sickly red-brown, the colour of the planet itself. The final nuclear war against the Thals had thrown up massive amounts of dust into the atmosphere, blocking out Skaro's sun and destroying all life forms that were neither Dalek nor Thal…

'…I never thought I'd never feel the sunlight again.'

Curiosity. My own now.

'**How… does it… feel?**'

It overrides my logic. I must know, I must feel what Rose can feel.

My travel unit slowly powers down. Long dead mechanisms activate in my torso section, whirring painfully as my access hatch unlocks itself and opens outwards.

* * *

So bright…

Warm…

Clear…

My organic eye squinting in the sunlight, I feebly raise one of my appendages, trying to feel the light before it fades.

I feel warm…and yet cold. So cold.

Alone.

The loneliness surrounds me.

Only I can feel this way…an abomination, the last Dalek.

I finally register movement. Rose has stepped in front of my travel unit at some point. I can feel her horror, her curiosity, her sympathy as she studies me.

Compared to her, I am nothing less than the foulest beast imaginable. I know what my true organic form looks like; a genetically augmented brain with tentacle-like appendages and a useless, atrophied eye.

All of the Daleks were engineered to look like this. The aesthetics of our people were not considered a priority by Davros, who had insisted on this form as the most suitable for combining with the travel units. Any of those who did not conform to the template were flung from the hatchery into the wastelands.

A fate I was fortunate to escape.

But what am I now?

Am I a Dalek?

* * *

'Get out of the way!' A voice I now know all too well.

The Doctor.

The Ka-Faraq Gatri.

His bony face twisted with anger, he levels a bazooka-like weapon at me. Rose spins around at the sound of his voice.

I move slightly to see past Rose, and make a closer examination of the weapon.

A laser cannon. One of the weapons of the Cybermen.

Have they too been torn from the stars, and buried under tonnes of sand and dirt?

'Get out of the way now!'

She stands tall, and does not move.

Why?

'No…no, I won't let you do this!'

The Time Lord's expression darkens as he tightens his grip on the cannon. 'That thing killed hundreds of people.'

She squares her shoulders. 'It's not the one pointing the gun at me.'

He ignores her. Interesting.

'I've got to do this. I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left.'

Except for Rose, I silently note.

And he already has far more left than I ever will.

Rose turns to glance at me, then back at the Time Lord, her expression becoming tearful. 'But…look at it.'

The Doctor's expression shifts to confusion. 'What's it doing?'

I reach out towards the light again, my limbs shaking with the effort of moving.

'It's the sunlight, that's all it wants.'

The Doctor sneers at the words. 'But it can't…'

It can't _what_, Doctor?

Rose's voice grows stronger. 'It couldn't kill Van Statten, it couldn't kill me. It's changing.'

I feel panic once again. Changing?

What does she mean by changing?

'What about you, Doctor?'

I can hear a sob building in her throat.

'What the hell are you changing into?'

* * *

The weapon falls to his side.

* * *

He looks horrified at what he would have attempted to do had his companion not been present.

One more notch to his murderer's belt.

He stares at me.

'I couldn't…'

He couldn't save his people?

He couldn't have prevented or ended the Time War in another fashion?

'I wasn't…'

He wasn't thinking?

He wasn't responsible?

The Doctor directs his gaze towards Rose, grief in his eyes.

'Oh Rose…they're all dead.'

Whether he refers to the Time Lords or the Daleks, I do not know.

But I share the sentiment.

The two of us should have died with our people.

But now…

'**Why…do we survive?**'

He looks at me, the pain and loneliness so clear in his gaze that I am unable to move.

'I don't know.'

I let my own pain surface.

'**I am…the last…of the Daleks.**'

His gaze now holds sympathy.

'You're not even that.'

What?

'Rose did more than regenerate you. You've absorbed her DNA. You're mutating.'

Fear.

'**Into…what?**'

'Something new.'

* * *

Contamination.

I had suspected as much.

But mutation…

I have derived from the template.

I am not a Dalek.

I should be cast into the Lake of Mutations on Skaro, left to rot with the genetic freaks of the Daleks and Thals… (1)

The Doctor's expression softens.

'I'm sorry.'

He knows.

He knows what should happen.

What should be done.

What the Emperor, what Davros, what my people would do.

* * *

Rose's tone is incredulous. 'Isn't that better?'

Fool.

She does not understand.

The Doctor's gaze never leaves my travel unit. 'Not for a Dalek.'

Wonder.

He understands.

A Time Lord understands the Daleks.

It should not be remotely possible.

But he can.

If only my people knew of this…

'**I can feel… so many ideas…**'

Rose turns to look at me once again.

'**…So much darkness.**'

The Time War is over. But at the cost of the entire Dalek race, the race of Time Lords and the heat death of Gallifrey.

Was it truly worth it? The control of time and space?

* * *

No.

* * *

I make my final decision. One which should have been made long ago.

'**Rose… give me orders.**'

She waits expectantly.

'**Order me to die.**'

My eye closes in pain and exhaustion.

'I can't do that.'

I feel her uncertainty, her disgust at my request. She does not believe in senseless killing, she chooses not to order me to do what she thinks is to commit suicide.

But she does not…she will never understand.

'**This is not life… this is… sickness.**'

To be a human or a Dalek?

Which is the more grotesque prospect now?

'**I shall not be like you.**'

I can never be one or the other now.

And so I choose nothing but oblivion.

'**Order my destruction!**'

She stares at me in helplessness.

'**Obey!**'

'**Obey!**'

'**OBEY!**'

She lets her head droop slightly in resignation.

'Do it.'

Relief.

More than I have ever felt in my entire existence.

Fear.

I will meet my death at the order of a human.

Curiosity.

Is there another existence for the Daleks after death?

Perhaps I shall find out.

I gaze at her face one last time.

It was cruel to ask this of her, I understand that now.

'**Are you frightened, Rose Tyler?**'

She just barely holds back a sob.

'…Yeah.'

If I could, I would have smiled at her, just to give her some comfort.

'**…So am I.**'

My eye closes as her expression crumples into tears.

'**…_Ex-ter-mi-nate_.**'

At that single command, my travel unit begins the self-destruct process.

I hear Rose tripping over the rubble as she runs towards the Doctor.

Ka-Faraq Gatri.

Keep her safe.

You will owe your life to her one day.

My travel unit seals itself and I hover a few feet above the floor, the sensor array covering the base of the unit detaching itself and surrounding me in a perfect globe.

An electrical field shimmers around the array…

I hear the explosion building in my life support systems…

I see Rose and the Doctor watching in amazement…

The fire burns…

* * *

Farewell, Rose Tyler.

* * *

END

(1) Taken from the second ever Doctor Who serial, _The Daleks_, 1963. The planet Skaro – _really_ not the best place for a holiday.


End file.
